Fur sewing machine

ABSTRACT

An improved apparatus for sewing strips of fur having a camming mechanism to maintain a guide shoe mechanism in a variably positioned medial plane between a feed wheel pair. The apparatus of this invention also lifts the guide mechanism to alternate positions within the vertical median plane to facilitate starting material into the nip of the feed wheels and to allow the material to be guided by hand without interference by the guide mechanism, if so desired.

I United States Patent 1151 3,650,227

Olday 1451 Mar. 21, 1972 54] FUR SEWING MACHINE 1,559,267 10/1925 Lipschitz ..112/149 [72] Inventor: Fred L. Olday, 505 Bogart Place, Scran- 55 ton Pa. 18503 3,489,112 l/l970 Marf0r1o.. [22] Filed: Dec. 8, 1970 3,572,268 3/1971 Olday ..112/149 [21] App! 96095 Primary Examiner.lordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-Geo V. Larkin Related Apphcamn Dam Attorney-Lane, Aitken, Dunner & Ziems [60] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 30,622, Mar. 31,

1970, abandoned, which is a division of Ser. No. [57] ABSTRACT 852,413, Aug. 22, 1969, Pat. No. 3,572,268.

An improved apparatus for sewing strips of fur having a [52] U S 112/20 camming mechanism to maintain a guide shoe mechanism in a [51] 35/10 variably positioned medial plane between a feed wheel pair. 58] i 115/1640 149 The apparatus of this invention also lifts the guide mechanism to alternate positions within the vertical median plane to facilitate starting material into the nip of the feed wheels and [56] Reerences cued to allow the material to be guided by hand without inter- UNITED STATES PATENTS ference by the guide mechanism, if so desired.

770,678 9/1904 Cunningham ..112/149 15 Claims,7Drawing Figures PATENTEDmz 1 I972 3 6 50.22 7

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ATTORNEYS FUR SEWING MACHINE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application, Ser. No. 30,622, filed Mar. 31, 1970 (now abandoned), which in turn, is a division of copending application, Ser. No. 852,413, filed Aug. 22, 1969 issued Mar. 23, 1971 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,268.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improvements in fur sewing machines and more particularly, it concerns a positioning system for a guide shoe mechanism which directs strips of fur to the feed mechanism ofa fur sewing machine.

In the manufacture of fur such as mink for garments, it is common practice to employ the letting out process to modify the shape of a skin before it is sewn together with other skins to form the ultimate garment. The letting out process calls for slicing the skin into diagonal strips /8 to inch in width and sewing the strips together after they have been offset in the direction of slicing to make a longer and narrower skin to run the full length of the garment without seams showing on the fur side. It will be appreciated that this technique of modifying the shape of the skin is extremely tedious and requires highly skilled personnel, even when using currently available, precision sewing machines, because of the tolerances required in making a strong seam without wasting an inordinate amount of the fur strip in the seam itself. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,588,281, issued Mar. 4, 1952 to the present inventor, there is disclosed a guide mechanism for such fur sewing machines by which much of the difficulty theretofore encountered in feeding fur strips to a sewingmachine was appreciably alleviated. Essentially, the guide mechanism shown in the aforementioned patent is in the form of inverted V-shaped guide shoe, having downwardly diverging side blades and a central separating blade, which functions so that the height to which the edge portions of the strips of fur project above the feed wheel pair in a horizontal needle machine can be controlled accurately by varying the height of the guide shoe relative to the feed wheels and needle.

A problem associated with such guide mechanisms for fur sewing machines of the type shown in the above-mentioned U.S. patent, is that of maintaining the guide in a central position relative to the nip of the feed wheel pair which presents the edges of the fur strips to the needle of the machine. In this connection, it is noted that in fur sewing machines of this type, one of two cooperating feed wheels is rotated intermittently about an axis fixed with respect to the machine housing whereas the other, though spring biased against the fixed wheel, is free to move outwardly from the fixed wheel to accommodate different thicknesses of skins. For example, in the case of mink, the skin thickness in a female hide usually will be about 0.020 inch whereas the thickness of skin in a male hide will run as high as 0.060 inch. Thus it will be appreciated that the medial plane between the feed rolls will shift outwardly from the fixed roller by a distance corresponding to one-half variation in the double thicknesses of skins to be sewn. Although optimum guiding of the strips to the wheels requires that the guide shoe be positioned directly on the medial plane between the feed discs, machines heretofore available have fallen short of such optimum guiding because they have not made provision for the varying thicknesses of skins to be sewn.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, an improved apparatus is provided wherein a guide shoe mechanism is supported from the sewing machine housing so as to be adjustable relative to the medial plane between the feed wheels of the sewing machine. Moreover, means are provided for rendering this adjustment automatic in accordance with travel of the movable one of the feed wheel pair as different thicknesses of skin are fed therebetween. Vertical adjustment of the guide shoe is also contemplated to allow the guide to be moved to a position spaced slightly from the area of the feed roll nip so that material may be initially placed between the rolls by hand. The provision for vertical adjustment also enables the guide to be held in a position remote from the work area so that an operator may, at his option, manually guide the material into the pinch of the feed rolls without interference from the guide shoe mechanism.

Among the principal objects of this invention are therefore: the provision of a material guiding attachment for fur sewing machines by which a guide shoe mechanism will be maintained automatically and precisely on center between the feed wheels of the fur sewing machine; and the provision ofsuch an attachment by which the guide shoe mechanism may be held in any of several optional vertical positions including an operating position wherein the guide engages the fur entering the pinch of the feed rolls. Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fur sewing machine incorporating the improvements of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, enlarged cross-section taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top view of the lower machine section;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the machine shown in FIG. 1 but with the cover thereof opened;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken on line 55 ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view similar to FIG. 3 but with the housing riser portion and cover pivoted to an open position;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary front elevation showing the components of the guide mechanism directing fur strips to the feed wheel pair ofa fur sewing machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A fur sewing machine incorporating the improvements of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 to include a housing, generally designated by the reference numeral 10, and having a lower base portion 12, an intermediate riser portion 14 and a cover portion 16. In accordance with conventional practice, the lower housing portion 12 includes a boss 18 for supporting the bearing and final drive components of an intermittently driven, rotatable feed wheel 20 having a fixed vertical axis established by the boss 18. A second, movable feed wheel 22 is supported freely for rotation, also on a vertical axis, by a journal 24 carried on the lower end of an arm 26 formed as an integral extension of a beam 28 cantilevered from the front end ofa slide member or rod 30 (FIG. 2). Resilient means, in the form of a tension spring 32 in FIG. 2 of the drawings, operates a bell crank lever 33, having an arm 34 connected by a pin to the slide rod 30 and an arm 35 connected by a chain 36 to a foot treadle (not shown). Hence the slide rod 30 and thus the arm 26 is biased in a direction such that the movable feed wheel 22 is yieldably held against the fixed feed wheel 20 as shown in FIG. 1. A horizontal needle 37 is carried by reciprocating means supported by the housing base 12 above the feed wheels 20 and 22 in cooperation with a needle guide 38 fixed above the movable feed wheel 22. The needle 37 cooperates with a looper 39 to form a seam between two strips of fur skin fed by the wheels 20 and 22 when the machine is driven by power transmitted to fly wheel pulley 40.

The sewing machine components described above, as well as all other components thereof supported directly by the lower base portion 12 are conventional and well known to those familiar with the fur sewing art. Additional information concerning such sewing machines may be found by reference to the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,588,281 and further by reference to US Pat. No. 2,132,379, issued Oct. 11, 1938, to C. Bonis. The point at which the structural organization of the present invention departs from that of conventional fur sewing machines is depicted most clearly in the drawings by the riser 14 and the components carried directly thereby. In this context, it is noted that in conventional fur sewing machines, the cover 16 carries a lubricant to be dispensed by suitable means to the movable machine components encased within the lower housing part 12 and is movable away from the upper portion of the housing part 12 to facilitate inspection and maintenance of such sewing machine components. In accordance with the present invention and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cover 16 is pivotally supported on the riser 14 by hinges 42 located to the rear of the housing and retained in a closed position by latch means 43 on the front thereof. The

riser 14, in turn, is pivotally mounted to the top of the lower housing 12 by similar hinges 46 and retained in a closed position against the housing by resilient latch means 48. Thus, it will be appreciated that the riser 14, as well as the parts carried thereby, can be easily incorporated as a modular attachment to the existing structure of presently available fur sewing machines merely by inserting the riser between the cover 16 and the lower housing portion 12.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 6 of the drawings, a fluid conveying tube 50 is rotatably and slidably supported in the riser 14 by bearing openings formed in the front and rear walls respectively of the riser. The rear end of the tube 50 is connected to a source of compressed air (not shown), by a flexible hose 51. The portion of the tube 50 projecting from the front of the riser is formed to provide a lateral arm 52 which carries the fur strip guide shoe mechanism, generally designated in the drawings by reference numeral 54 and to which the aforementioned application Ser. No. 852,413 is directed. Although reference may be made to that application for a complete disclosure of the guide shoe mechanism 54, it will suffice for a complete understanding of the present invention to note that this mechanism includes a guide shoe 55 operable to locate precisely the edges of fur to be sewn, and an a directional air nozzle formed by a sleeve 56 having vanes 57 at its distal end.

The improved mechanism of this invention controls sliding movement of the tube 50 so that the guide mechanism 54 is at all times laterally positioned midway between feed wheels and 22. By virtue of such sliding movement of the tube 50, in addition to functioning as an air conduit, the tube 50 functions as a slide member in a manner similar to the slide rod in the latter elements support of the feed wheel 22. The mechanism of this invention also controls the rotating movement of tube 50 and thereby vertically positions the guide mechanism 54 relative to the operating plane of the needle 37.

The manner in which the tube is positioned automatically to bring about proper positioning of the guide mechanism 54 may be understood by reference to FIGS. 2-5 of the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a collar 58 is clamped to the portion of the tube 50 extending between the front and rear walls of the riser 14 by suitable means such as clamping screws 59. The collar is formed with a radially extending ear 60 for supporting a laterally extending pin 62 carrying a cam follower 64 on its outboard end. Thus it will be seen that the locus of the follower 64 will establish both the angular position of the tube 50 and thus of the arm 52 as well as the axial position of the tube 50 relative to the riser 14 in which it is slidably and rotatably mounted.

To position the follower 64, a pair of bifurcated cam members 66 and 68 are adjustably positioned within the riser 14 as shown in FIG. 2. The member 66 is fixed by a clamp portion 67, to the slide 30 to which the movable feed wheel 22 is connected by way of the arm 26 and the beam extension 28, thereby insuring that the cam member 66 will be moved directly with movements experienced by the axis of the feed roller 22 to accommodate different thicknesses of skin fed between it and the fixed roller 20. The camming member 68 is carried for adjustable fore and aft positioning by a rotatable screw 70 having a position control knob 72 projecting from the front wall of the riser 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the camming member 66 carries a forwardly and downwardly directed camming surface 74 whereas the camming member 68 carries a rearwardly and downwardly facing, inclined camming surface 76, the camming surfaces 74 and 76 being formed on bifurcated interleaved fingers so that the members 66 and 68 may be engaged against lateral separation. The respective camming surfaces 74 and 76 extend at 45 to the vertical and merge to establish an inverted V-sh'aped cradle for the follower 64. The follower 64, connected to tube 50, is maintained in the cradle established by the surfaces 74 and 76 by a spring biased toggle linkage generally designated by the reference numeral 78 and shown most clearly in FIGS. 3 and 5 of the drawings.

The structural organization and operation of the toggle linkage 78 may be understood by reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 ofthe drawings. As shown in FIG. 3, one arm 80 of the toggle linkage 78 is pivotably attached to the interior wall of the riser portion 14 by means of a pin 82 held by a bracket 84. The end of the arm 80 opposite the housing is slidably and pivotally attached to another arm member 86 by a pin 88 carried by the arm member 80 and extending through a slot 90 in the arm 86. The arm member 86 is in turn attached to the tube 50 by means of a collar 92. Though it would appear that this connection of the toggle linkage 78 between the riser l4 and the tube 50 would impede axial movement of the tube as may be required to center the guide shoe 55 on the nip of the feed rolls 20 and 22, in practice the flexibility and play in the linkage is adequate to accommodate the axial movement needed for centering. Also, it is possible to achieve increased axial freedom of the tube 50 from the collar 92 simply by keying the collar non-rotatably but axially slidable on the tube 50.

The sliding attachment between the arm members 80 and 86 provided by the pin 88 and slot 90 allows the tube 50 to rotate between positions A and C. A compression spring 94 operates to bias the toggle linkage 78 toward either the A" or C" position. A bead or detent 96 protruding from arm 80 seats, at position B, into a corresponding depression in the arm 86.

When no material is present between the feed wheels 20 and 22, these wheels are held closed together by the force exerted by spring member 32. When wheels 20 and 22 are in the closed position, the cam members 66 and 68 and cam follower 64 are in position A" as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. As various thicknesses of skins are incurred, causing outward movement of the feed wheel 22 relative to the fixed axis feed wheel 20, the cam member 66 will be moved accordingly. Because of the 45 disposition of the cam surfaces 74 and 76, the locus of the cradle formed thereby and thus of the bearing follower 64 will be moved through half the distance through which the wheel 22 is moved to maintain the feeding center of the guide mechanism 54 on the medial plane between the feed wheels 20 and 22. Some attendant vertical repositioning of the guide mechanism 54 will occur with such lateral positions. Because the swing of the mechanism 54 approaches tangency with the plane of the needle 37, however, such vertical repositioning will be negligible. If on the other hand, the wheel moves through a distance exceeding that anticipated with the particular skins of the fur strips being sewn, an appropriate adjustment can be made by repositioning the cam member 68 by manual rotation of the knob 72. The movement of the cam follower 64 during normal operation is between position A and some point slightly beyond A toward B. The distance between positions A" and B is such that the cam follower never reaches B during normal operation.

The camming mechanism also operates to rotate tube 50 to position B shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, which rotation lifts the guide mechanism 54 clear of the operating plane of the needle. To elevate the air tube 52 and guide mechanism 54 to position B shown in FIG. 7, a treadle (not shown), to which the chain 36 is attached, is depressed causing lever arm 35 to be rotated downward, which movement is translated through arm member 34 and the slide member 30 into a forward movement of the camming surface 75. This movement of camming surface 74 against the fixed surface 76 causes the cam follower 64 to move to position B, as depicted in FIG. 2, where further lateral movement is prevented by the contact between a bearing boss 100 and clamp portion 67 of cam member 66. Alternately, further lateral movement may be prevented by providing a stop on the housing of riser 14 to engage lever arm 33. At position B," tension on the chain 36 may be released and the air tube 52 and guide 54 will be held in place, as shown in FIG. 3, by the seating of the detent '96 coupled with the dead center condition of the toggle linkage 78. If the operator wishes to manually guide material into the pinch of the feed rolls, he must manually lift the guide mechanism 54 to a point above position B." Once the detent 96 has been unseated by the manual lifting, the spring 94 will throw the toggle linkage 78 and correspondingly, the guide mechanism 54 to position Rotation beyond C is prevented by the pin 88 abutting the extremity of slot 90. At position C the follower 64 is removed from the cradle of camming mechanism and the guide mechanism 54 is clear of the feed wheels and 22 to facilitate manual sewing operations.

To resume use of the guide mechanism 54 a second treadle (not shown), to which the linkage 102 is connected, is depressed causing the tube 50 to rotate counterclockwise, thereby returning arm member 52 to position B where the follower 64 is reseated into the cradle of the camming mechanism. A further depression of the treadle will return arm member 52 to an operating position near A. A mercury switch 104 (FIG. 1) is carried by link 102 and upon return to the operating position starts the air flow to the guide mechanism 54. Instead of using a treadle, linkage 102 may be provided with a handle.

Thus it will be appreciated that by this invention there is provided a highly improved guide mechanism for fur sewing machines and by which the above-mentioned objections are completely fulfilled. Although the embodiment disclosed is preferred, structural variations therefrom are contemplated. Accordingly, the foregoing description is intended to be illustrative and not limiting in connection with the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

lclaim:

l. in a fur sewing machine, the combination comprising: a housing, a reciprocable sewing needle supported by said housing, a pair of feed wheels adjacent to said needle for feeding superimposed edges of fur strip skins to said sewing needle, one of said wheels being supported for rotation on an axis fixed with respect to said housing, the other of said wheels being supported on said housing by means including a slide member extending transversely of said fixed axis so that the periphery of said other feed wheel may move toward and away from said one feed wheel to accommodate different thicknesses of fur skinfed between said wheels, g'uide shoe means for directing strips of fur between said feed wheels, and means supporting said guide shoe means for movement in the same direction as said other feed wheel is moved by the thickness of the fur skins but through one half the distance through which said other feed wheel is moved whereby said guide shoe means is maintained in a position midway between said feed wheels.

2. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said last mentioned means comprises a second slide member supported by said housing for axial movement parallel to said first mentioned slide member, a movable cam member fixed to said first mentioned slide member and an stationary cam member supported on said housing, said cam members defining a cradle movable through one half the distance through which said movable cam member moves, and follower means on said second slide member to rest in and be moved with said cradle.

said slide members.

4. The apparatus recited in claim 2 wherein said second slide member is also rotatable with respect to said housing,

said follower being mounted on a pin cantilevered transverselyfrom said second slide member.

5. The apparatus recited in claim 2 wherein said cam members are bifurcated at least over the portion thereof defining said cradle, the bifurcated portions of said slide members being interleaved to prevent separation thereof.

6. The apparatus recited in claim 2 including a feed screw journaled in said housing to support said stationary cam member for adjustment to differently located stationary positions.

7. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said housing has a lower base portion, an intermediate riser portion, and a cover portion, said guide means and said last mentioned means being supported by said riser portion.

8. The apparatus recited in claim 7 wherein said riser portion is pivotally mounted on said base portion and wherein said cover is pivotally mounted on said riser portion.

9. The apparatus recited in claim 2 wherein said second slide member is a tube having one end extending from said housing to mount said guide means, and nozzle means on said tube end to direct a stream of air passed through said tube to the fur strips directed by said guide means.

10. The apparatus recited in claim 9 wherein said extending tube end is formed as a lateral arm portion of the tube portion supported slidably by said housing and wherein said tube is rotatably adjustable to position said guide shoe means in a plane midway between and parallel to the axes of said feed wheels.

11. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said positioning means comprises a second slide member supported by said housing for axial movement parallel to said first slide member, said second slide member having a radially disposed arm to support said guide means, and means to adjust the angular position of said second slide and thus said guide means between operative and nonoperative positions relative to said feed wheels.

12. The apparatus recited in claim 11 wherein said angular adjustment means comprises a spring biased toggle linkage means adjustable between a first position to establish the operative relation of said guide means to said feed wheels, and a second, dead center position to establish at least one nonoperative position of said guide means.

13. The apparatus recited in claim 12 wherein said toggle link is adjustable to a third position, opposite the dead center position from said first position, to retain said guide means in a further nonoperative position more remote from said feed wheels than when said toggle linkage means is in said dead center position.

14. The apparatus recited in claim 2 wherein said second slide member is also rotatable on its axis and includes a radially disposed arm to support said guide means, spring biased, dead center toggle linkage means connected between said housing and said second slide member, said toggle linkage means operating to bias said follower means into said cradle and to retain said guide means in nonoperative relation to said feed wheels in the dead center'position.

15. The apparatus recited in claim 14 wherein movement of said first slide member to separate said feed wheels for placing fur strips therebetween effects movement of said cradle and thus of said follower means to adjust said toggle linkage means to the dead center position, thereby to hold said guide means in said nonoperative position during placement of fur strips between said feed wheels. 

1. In a fur sewing machine, the combination comprising: a housing, a reciprocable sewing needle supported by said housing, a pair of feed wheels adjacent to said needle for feeding superimposed edges of fur strip skins to said sewing needle, one of said wheels being supported for rotation on an axis fixed with respect to said housing, the other of said wheels being supported on said housing by means including a slide member extending transversely of said fixed axis so that the periphery of said other feed wheel may move toward and away from said one feed wheel to accommodate different thicknesses of fur skin fed between said wheels, guide shoe means for directing strips of fur between said feed wheels, and means supporting said guide shoe means for movement in the same direction as said other feed wheel is moved by the thickness of the fur skins but through one half the distance through which said other feed wheel is moved whereby said guide shoe means is maintained in a position midway between said feed wheels.
 2. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said last mentioned means comprises a second slide member supported by said housing for axial movement parallel to said first mentioned slide member, a movable cam member fixed to said first mentioned slide member and an stationary cam member supported on said housing, said cam members defining a cradle movable through one half the distance through which said movable cam member moves, and follower means on said second slide member to rest in and be moved with said cradle.
 3. The apparatus recited in claim 2 wherein said cradle is defined by oppositely inclined cam surfaces on said cam members, said cam surfaces making an angle of 45* with the axes of said slide members.
 4. The apparatus recited in claim 2 wherein said second slide member is also rotatable with respect to said housing, said follower being mounted on a pin cantilevered transversely from said second slide member.
 5. The apparatus recited in claim 2 wherein said cam members are bifurcated at least over the portion thereof defining said cradle, the bifurcated portions of said slide members being interleaved to prevent separation thereof.
 6. The apparatus recited in claim 2 including a feed screw journaled in said housing to support said stationary cam member for adjustment to differently located stationary positions.
 7. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said housing has a lower base portion, an intermediate riser portion, and a cover portion, said guide means and said last mentioned means being supported by said riser portion.
 8. The apparatus recited in claim 7 wherein said riser portion is pivotally mounted on said base portion and wherein said cover is pivotally mounted on said riser portion.
 9. The apparatus recited in claim 2 wherein said second slide member is a tube having one end extending from said housing to mount said guide means, and nozzle means on said tube end to direct a stream of air passed through said tube to the fur strips directed by said guide means.
 10. The apparatus recited in claim 9 wherein said extending tube end is formed as a lateral arm portion of the tube portion supported slidably by said housing and wherein said tube is rotatably adjustable to position said guide shoe means in a plane midway between and parallel to the axes of said feed wheels.
 11. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said positioning means comprises a second slide member supported by said housing for axial movement parallel to said first slide member, said second slide member having a radially disposed arm to support said guide meAns, and means to adjust the angular position of said second slide and thus said guide means between operative and nonoperative positions relative to said feed wheels.
 12. The apparatus recited in claim 11 wherein said angular adjustment means comprises a spring biased toggle linkage means adjustable between a first position to establish the operative relation of said guide means to said feed wheels, and a second, dead center position to establish at least one nonoperative position of said guide means.
 13. The apparatus recited in claim 12 wherein said toggle link is adjustable to a third position, opposite the dead center position from said first position, to retain said guide means in a further nonoperative position more remote from said feed wheels than when said toggle linkage means is in said dead center position.
 14. The apparatus recited in claim 2 wherein said second slide member is also rotatable on its axis and includes a radially disposed arm to support said guide means, spring biased, dead center toggle linkage means connected between said housing and said second slide member, said toggle linkage means operating to bias said follower means into said cradle and to retain said guide means in nonoperative relation to said feed wheels in the dead center position.
 15. The apparatus recited in claim 14 wherein movement of said first slide member to separate said feed wheels for placing fur strips therebetween effects movement of said cradle and thus of said follower means to adjust said toggle linkage means to the dead center position, thereby to hold said guide means in said nonoperative position during placement of fur strips between said feed wheels. 